CHICAGO – After three days of resting sore legs, Barry Bonds had plenty behind his swing.

He hit a pair of home runs through a stiff breeze at Wrigley Field, turning a dragged-out pursuit of Hank Aaron’s record into an all-out assault. It wasn’t enough for the sagging Giants, however, who fell 9-8 to the Cubs.

His 752nd career home run, a solo shot off left-hander Ted Lilly in the second inning, soared onto Sheffield Ave. – the first home run to clear the right field bleachers this season.

His 753rd home run was a three-run shot off left-hander Will Ohman that cut through the wind and landed in the wire basket that fronts the bleachers in left-center field.

A fan scooped the ball out of the basket and appeared to throw a decoy onto the field, keeping with the local tradition to cast back home runs from visiting players.

Bonds rounded the bases each time to boos and flashbulbs. He needs just two more home runs to match Aaron’s cherished all-time record, and now the pursuit moves to Milwaukee for a three-game series in the city where Aaron finished his career.

Bonds’ sudden surge was unexpected, and not only because of the blustery conditions that knocked down fly balls.

He was starting for the first time since Sunday, claiming exhaustion after playing three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers out of the All-Star Break. He entered the game in an 0-for-21 slump.

Bonds avoided matching or exceeding his career-worst hitless stretch of 23 at-bats, which he set as a rookie in 1986.

He also hit a two-run single, walked in front of Bengie Molina’s home run and drove in six runs. It was Bonds’ seventh career game with at least six RBIs.

Yet the Giants played an error-filled game behind Matt Morris and trailed 9-8 entering the bottom of the eighth inning.

Bonds, who turns 43 on Tuesday, has 19 home runs this year – the most by a player his age. Carlton Fisk hit 18 home runs as a 43-year-old in 1990. He hit 18 more the following year.

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